A surprise from the first open day of Broncos OTAs on Thursday: No. 33 in attendance and participating.
Javonte Williams, who suffered a major knee injury less than eight months ago, was not just present at Denver’s third OTA practice of the week but he was a limited participant and did individual and team-related work at walk-through speed through most of the two-hour practice.
“We do a medical report every night and we list the players as full, limited or out,” coach Sean Payton said after practice. “He’s working in a limited capacity. We’re being smart, obviously. I said this to you before: We were encouraged heading into this season.
“It’s good to have him out there.”
Williams was originally injured against Las Vegas on Oct. 2 and suffered a torn ACL plus additional knee damage. His status for the beginning of the season was thought to be in question, though Payton said more recently that he and the medical and training staffs thought Williams had a chance to be cleared by the start of training camp.
Williams, as Payton indicated, didn’t do everything during OTAs, but just his presence on the field has to be considered a confidence booster for not only him but also his teammates.
“Javonte’s one of the best backs in the game,” quarterback Russell Wilson said Thursday. “He’s hard to tackle, he’s got great hands, he’s great in protection — he strikes guys in protection — he runs through holes, runs through tackles, he brings a lot of great confidence to us with what he can do.”
As a rookie out of North Carolina in 2021, Williams formed a potent duo with Melvin Gordon and carried 203 times for 903 yards and four touchdowns, adding 43 catches for 316 more yards and three more scores.
He looked poised to build on that fast start last fall, carrying 47 times for 204 yards over the first three-plus games. In that span, Williams was among the NFL’s leaders in missed tackles forced and showed the ability to rumble through tackle attempts between the tackles and in the open field.
After he was injured on the first play of the second half in Las Vegas, Denver’s running back rotation went unsettled for weeks as Gordon fumbled far too frequently and midseason acquisition Latavius Murray attempted to get up to speed on the fly.
This year Payton and general manager George Paton have attempted to stock the shelves deeper behind Williams. Currently on the 90-man roster the Broncos have Samaje Perine, Tony Jones, Jr., Tyreik McAllister, Damarea Crockett, Jacques Patricka and college free agent Jaleel McLaughlin. Perine’s the most accomplished of that group by far, but Jones, Crockett and Patrick have all seen game reps in the NFL, too.
“We have a plethora of guys who can really run the ball and it starts up front with those (offensive linemen),” Wilson said. “We’re excited about that, too.”
Walkthrough participation in May is a long way from taking the field Sept. 10 against the Raiders at Empower Field, but Thursday could be considered nothing but a positive step for Williams in his journey back to the playing field, especially with a new system to learn and new coaches across the board on the Broncos’ offense.
“It’s the third day in and we’re working through — we’re installing an entirely new offense,” Payton said. “So we see glimpses and then you see a lot we’ve got to correct. But that process is going well.”
